of those hard balls raised a big lump on little Bertha's head, and she cried all the way home. You couldn't hurt her to-day, because she wasn't afraid."
"We're awfully sorry if we hurt her," said Fred, awkwardly. "We really didn't mean to. We just got interested in the chase, I suppose, and didn't know how hard we threw the balls. We won't bother you any more, will we, Joe?"
"No, we won't," said Joe, heartily. "We've been pretty mean to you, but it was just for fun. We didn't want to hurt you. You needn't be afraid any more."
"We're not," said Marie, quickly. "We have learned better. Good-bye, boys, and thank you for being nice to us."
"Good-bye, good-bye," called Bertha and Frances.
Fred had been busy for a few moments throwing a pile of snow-balls off of the long bod-sled which was drawn up behind the fence. Now he brought it forth, proudly.
